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Benfica president Luis Filipe Vieira has admitted the Portuguese champions are already planning for life without midfielder Ramires as Chelsea edged closer to a deal for the Brazil international.

Chelsea are in the final stages of a agreeing a fee of around £18million with Benfica as Carlo Ancelotti continues to put his team through their pre-season paces in Germany.

And the deal for Ramires should be signed and sealed by the time Chelsea return on Wednesday evening following their friendly against Hamburg and he is expected to undergo a medical within the next 48 hours.

Admitting Benfica were ready to do a deal with Chelsea for Ramires, Vieira said: ‘Our main aim is to keep building the team and do the right thing in sporting terms.

‘If there is a good proposal, we will do everything we can to make it work for us. We are prepared for everything and have options to fill all the positions to make sure we strengthen.’

Ramires will be Ancelotti’s second recruit of the summer following the capture of Yossi Benayoun from Liverpool. The Italian remains on the trail Ramires’ Benfica team-mate, defender David Luiz, but up to now it is Manchester City who have been making all the waves in the transfer market.

Even so, Salomon Kalou feels that City still have a long way to go before they can be classed as genuine title contenders despite already splashing out £75m on new talent.

‘Just because you bring in ten new players it doesn’t mean you’re going to be on top of the table,’ said Kalou of City’s ongoing recruitment drive. ‘There are still teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool who will always be at the top.

‘Manchester City can do well because they have brought good players in this year but the reality is on the pitch. You can have ten new players and it doesn’t guarantee you anything.’

As well as some new arrivals at Stamford Bridge, Kalou is confident that talent from the academy can see Chelsea emulate and even surpass last season’s double winning exploits.

He said: ‘We’ll try to bring some youth players through and they will show their quality and from there we will have a good squad ready for the Premier League and the Champions League.’

Singling out 17-year-old Josh McEachran for special praise, Kalou added: ‘Josh is a very good player. He’s come into the first team and he has great quality. He can impress and develop himself to be an important Chelsea player this year.

‘It’s not easy for a youngster to break into a team like Chelsea. But you learn from all the international players, develop yourself in every training session. We’re helping him to get into the team.

‘That’s the way you get your confidence as a young player, when the experienced players come and talk to you. You learn from them and he’s doing that.’